Working to make Dunedin predator free

Otago Polytechnic is delighted to be one of 20 organisations joining forces with the goal of ridding Dunedin of possums, rats and stoats by 2050.

Predator Free Dunedin will work to ensure the city can safeguard its status as the wildlife capital of New Zealand, by targeting Introduced pests that prey on our vulnerable native wildlife.

The collective has a budget of $15 million over the next five years, including $4.33 million from Predator Free 2050 Limited and $1.5 million from the Otago Regional Council.

In Dunedin last week, the Conservation Minister, Eugenie Sage, celebrated the group's launch. 

“The Dunedin and wider Otago community has already shown its conservation leadership, with successful projects like Orokonui Ecosanctuary and Orokonui Halo,” she said. “I look forward to seeing the return to the city of healthier populations of native plants and wildlife and a continued increase in public involvement in creating safe spaces for our distinctive indigenous species.”

Targets for the first five years include the eradication of possums from the 9,000 hectare Otago Peninsula, and to suppress rats, possums, weasels, ferrets and stoats across 12,500 hectares of land surrounding Orokonui Ecosanctuary, between Aramoana, Waitati and North East Valley.

The group will build upon the great work undertaken by the Predator Free Peninsula and Halo Predator Free Project to connect these areas with a new Urban Linkage project, and Dunedinites will be encouraged to work collaboratively to implement predator control operations in their backyards and in local reserves within the Urban Linkage area.

The other 19 organisations that have joined Otago Polytechnic to form the Predator Free Dunedin Charitable Trust are: Kāti Huirapa Runanga ki Puketeraki Incorporated, Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou, Dunedin City Council, Otago Regional Council, OSPRI New Zealand Limited, Department of Conservation, University of Otago, Landcare Research New Zealand Limited, Landscape Connections Trust, Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Trust, The Otago Chamber of Commerce Incorporated, Otago Natural History Trust, The Dunedin Wildlife Trust, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated, Otago Peninsula Trust, The Pukekura Trust, Save the Otago Peninsula Society Incorporated and Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua Community Incorporated.

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